ARCHAEOLOGICAL,STYLISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON 11TH–13TH CENTURY AD PAINTED FRAGMENTS FROM THE SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA CHURCH IN CEVIO (SWITZERLAND)

The painted fragments collected during the archaeological excavation campaign in the San Giovanni Battista church in Cevio represent a unique patrimony of Romanesque wall painting in Tessin, Switzerland, having a strong stylistic linkage with the Lombardic art of the same period. The archaeological and stylistic research allowed the fragments to be dated between the 11th and 13th centuries ad and to group them in three chronological phases. The scientific research (p‐XRF, OM, SEM–EDS, FTIR and XRD) was aimed at characterizing the pigments and the pictorial techniques used. Important changes occurred in terms of some pigments used during the 11th and 12th centuries: in particular, azurite was used to decorate the earlier wall paintings while lapis lazuli was used for the 12th‐century ones. During the second period, lead‐based pigments (lead white and minium) were introduced into the palette. The use of natural yellow and red ochres and green earth was common for the three periods. The fresco technique was generally used, except for the application of azurite and lead‐based pigments, where the a secco technique was adopted. The integrated research is a contribution to the knowledge of Romanesque art in the Insubric Region.     

The Fabulous Tales of the Common People,Part 2: Encountering Hadrian's Wall

Abstract

In 2003, the Hadrian's Wall National Trail was opened, providing a 135 km (84 mile) public footpath along the length of the Roman frontier from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway. Each year, thousands of visitors walk the Trail from end-to-end and many more make day trips to visit specific locations within the wider World Heritage Site. In the second of two related papers (see Witcher, 2010), consideration turns from professional and popular visual representations of Hadrian's Wall to the ways in which visitors physically experience the monument and its landscape. The paper explores how embodied and sensory encounters produce and reproduce understandings which are charged with cultural and political meaning. Specifically, the elision of visitors and Roman soldiers through a process of embodied empathy/sympathy is outlined. It is argued that the way in which Western society assumes familiarity with an ancestral Roman Empire actively reduces the interrogative potential of encounters with the monument and limits visitors' ability to reflect on the significance of the Wall. The paper goes on to consider alternative modes of visual and physical engagement, drawing inspiration from virtual communities including geocachers who have used Information Technology such as Global Positioning Systems and Web 2.0 functionality to develop innovative modes of representation and encounter.     

PREHISTORIC WALL PAINTINGS: THE CASE OF THE DOMUS DE JANAS NECROPOLIS (SARDINIA,ITALY)*

The Domus de Janas (Home of the Fairies, or Home of the Witches) are Neolithic hypogea located throughout Sardinia (Italy) and decorated with red and black wall paintings. The objective of this study was to define the painting technique through the analytical characterization of the pigments and binding media. Samples of painting film from different graves have been examined by means of various analytical techniques. XRD, Raman and SEM–EDX analyses identified the red and black pigments respectively as red ochre rich in hematite and carbon black, while GC–MS analyses characterized the organic binder as egg.